The thought of chili-infused chocolate came to mind when I posted some photos of NYC on instagram and remembered an awesome chili-infused chocolate bar I had there. Then I thought about how chocolate played a role in Mexico’s history, and doing something to honor chocolate’s Mexican past just made sense. But getting to chocolate enchiladas took a little imagination. And I’m glad my mind went there, because we love this new recipe for chocolate enchiladas.
Jump to RecipeIs This a Dessert Enchilada?
Just to clarify—for anyone who may be looking for a dessert enchilada, this ain’t it. This sauce uses my chocolate green sauce, which honors the bitter chocolate concoction of Mexico’s past. Just to clarify further, I have not resurrected the fermented beverage from thousands of years ago, but instead have added some unsweetened chocolate to the green sauce I use in my standard beef enchilada recipe.
If the combination sounds weird, well … maybe it is, but it tastes pretty good: my husband has listed it as #3 on his top “last meal” list. That’s his rather morbid way of telling me how good a dish is: “This is good. If I knew I were eating a last meal, this would make my list at number….”
I’m not sure I’d rank it that high for me, but then again, I don’t have a last meal list. In fact, trying to create a last meal list would probably take me until my last meal, thus causing me to miss out on the actual last meal I might want. But I digress.
About Chocolate Enchiladas
Chocolate enchiladas are fairly easy to make. They don’t take too long if you’ve made my Green Sauce and Mexichili Magic Mix ahead of time. And if you don’t feel like trying chocolate, omit it. You’ll still get a nice batch of enchiladas in the deal.
In this recipe I do not call for frying the tortillas before dipping them in sauce. If you want to keep things authentic, by all means pan fry them and drain them before dipping them into the sauce. I sometimes do it, sometimes don’t. I used to fret about that choice, but it does not seem to affect the consistency of the enchilada, so I just do whatever I feel like.
Whatever vegetarian and low sodium options you apply to green sauce and magic mix will drive the nature of the enchiladas.
If you don’t eat cheese, you might try a nondairy sour cream mixture with crumbled tofu or a cheese substitute. I don’t know a lot about replacing cheese in recipes, so I can’t guarantee that it will work. Bottom line: the enchilada needs a replacement that has the creamy texture of that cheese mix.
I reserve about half my batch of green sauce for chocolate green sauce these days, and we are loving this dish with a side of Mexican rice. I think adding some guacamole to the meal might make me want to create a last meal list.
If you make this recipe, please let me know which options you used and what you thought about it.
Chocolate Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 8-12 TBSP Mexichili Magic Mix
- 2 C Green sauce
- 1 TBSP dark chocolate powder unsweetened or 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate block
- ¼ C half & half crema, milk, or nondairy milk (plain)
- ½ to ¾ C cotua powder to taste
- 8 corn tortillas
- scant Additional cotua powder
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Lightly brush olive oil onto bottom and sides of 9 x 9 casserole dish.
- In small bowl or cup, mix cream and cotua powder, adding in powder until mixture resembles ricotta cheese.
- Pour sauce into a small frying pan and add dark chocolate powder to green sauce, stirring until chocolate is completely blended in (if using chocolate bar, simply add it to the pan). Heat on medium until chocolate is thoroughly blended, stirring often, then reduce heat to low.
- Pour a small amount of sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish, so the bottom is just covered.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Dip corn tortillas into sauce until completely coated then place on a plate.
- Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture onto the center of the tortilla then add about a tablespoon of Mexichili Magic Mix.
- Roll up like a cigar and place the enchilada fold side down in the casserole dish. Repeat until all tortillas have been used and fill up the casserole dish.
- Spoon remainder of sauce over tortillas, covering them completely.
- Bake about 20-30 minutes, ensuring that the cheese and tortilla do not over brown.
- Remove from oven and let set for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- If desired, cover serving with any remaining cotua powder mix and a small amount of chocolate green sauce once plated.
